


Salvation

by buzuki



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fluff and Angst, Leedo is a med student, M/M, Ravn is an underground fighter, geonhak is too soft in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 19:43:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18697957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzuki/pseuds/buzuki
Summary: For some, life doesn't come easy. Some people have to fight to live everyday, Youngjo knows that and the pain it brings all too well. But maybe he can find someone to heal with? Maybe someone like his neighbor, Geonhak.or:In which Youngjo fights in the underground rings to pay back his debt and Geonhak tries to heal his wounds.





	Salvation

Everyone in the dimly lit basement mocks him, he feels the resentment in the pits of his stomach. He hears the cheers, the shouts, the bets thrown around. He had always wished for stage lights blinding him yet now he’s only met with darkness.

So, he does what he’s supposed to do.

He fights.

**

Like most unexpected things in life, it starts with a sound. 

It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon, where Youngjo just plans to lay unmoving on his bed, trying to cure his fatigue with ineffective methods. Tomorrow will be a brand-new day to work his ass off anyway. 

Youngjo hears his roommate, Yonghoon, groan as he moves in the living room. He had come home late from some music club gathering so Youngjo’s pretty sure that he’s as hungover as he’s tired. 

“Youngjo, if you’re expecting someone, go answer the door!” He calls with few fever in his voice, he just sounds bothered.

“I’m not, hyung.” He replies, but he’s not sure if it’s loud enough for Yonghoon to hear. Youngjo lets his feet touch the floor, standing up slowly to not hurt his ribs furthermore. 

The persistent knock on the door had turned timid over the minutes yet it still goes on. Youngjo fears the possibilities behind the door for a brief moment. What if they finally came? What if they hurt Yonghoon too along the way? Youngjo doesn’t care much for himself anymore after everything, but the people he loves, his family, is something else.

“Goddamnit, open the door!” He hears Yonghoon yell at him from the kitchen, his voice hoarse and tired. 

For his eardrums’ sake, he grabs the door handle, then twists and pulls it with a shaky breath. What he finds in front of him is simply unexpected, he thinks. A man in his 20’s stands on his threshold, he has a handsome, pointy face and neatly styled black hair. Youngjo can’t help but eye him from head to toe, taking his sight in. The man’s clothes doesn’t look quite expensive -although they are certainly not cheap either- but the way he carries himself in them is… eye-catching, to be honest. 

Pretentious, is the first thing that comes to Youngjo’s mind upon seeing the stranger. He opens his mouth to ask something with suspicion in his voice, but the visitor beats him to it with a kind smile on his face.

“Hello!” He greets with enthusiasm, his voice is unexpectantly deep, “I’m Geonhak, I just moved the apartment next to yours.”

Youngjo has learned to be skeptic about the things that seems to be coincidences but this time, the young gentleman before him gives a dashing smile that makes his worries dissolve for a moment. He must be staring for too much because his new neighbor, Geonhak, clears his throat and asks, a little bit timidly this time. 

“And your name is...?”

“Uh, it’s Youngjo.” He mutters unintelligently, “I’m Youngjo.”

A brief silence settles between them where Youngjo struggles to find things to say, but it’s Geonhak who breaks it again with his gentle yet low voice.

“Do you live alone, Youngjo?”

“I have a roommate.” He answers, for some reason thinking that Yonghoon can save him from this awkwardness, he calls out, “Hyung! Can you come here for a second?”

In the few moments which Yonghoon wastes, Youngjo feels Geonhak’s eyes on himself. He briefly wonders what is his first impression of him. A poor looking young man, with scars all over his face. He must look scary to someone who’s prim and proper. But Geonhak’s gaze is still kind, perhaps his intentions are too.

Yonghoon shows himself after a seemingly a hundred years of wait, and proceeds to nag at Youngjo before he sticks his head out of the door to see who their surprise visitor is. “Uh, do we know you?”

Geonhak bows, and introduces himself again, making Yonghoon nod. He then smiles politely, before grabbing the door. “Nice to meet you, Geonhak. I hope we treat each other well.” Yonghoon shuts the door before letting Geonhak reply, and turns to Youngjo with glowering eyes.

“Youngjo, you can’t open the door to strangers!” He scolds, “What if it was one of  _ them _ ?” Youngjo’s left slack-jawed at Yonghoon’s statement as the older man continues, “No, what if it  _ is  _ one of them?”

Youngjo sighs in response, leaning against the door. “I know, hyung.” He clumsily reassures, “But I don’t think that the guys I borrowed money from would go to such lengths.” 

“You never know, Youngjo.” Yonghoon says, “You never know.”

**

Youngjo walks the same way for the nth time that month, still with the same restless pit in his stomach. He rounds the corner and comes across with the same door he’s been faced along with his conscience again. Now, for someone who’s clueless, this particular door would be insignificant, easy to pass by even. But for Youngjo, it meant hope as much as it also meant despair. 

He pushes the door open, careful to not be seen and he is immediately hit with the heavy scent of sweat and excitement. Dozens of bodies chant one single name, the one who belonged to the current winning fighter, and without letting his eyes roam on the crowd a second longer, he goes inside the small room that hosts other fighters. 

**

As it turns out, Geonhak is as persistent as he is good-looking, Youngjo notes when he comes home one afternoon to Yonghoon happily munching on a cookie in the kitchen.

“Huh?” Youngjo inquires, knowing that Yonghoon’s pass-time hobbies didn’t include baking, “Where’d you get these?”

Yonghoon shrugs in response, “The guy next-door brought them.” 

Youngjo takes one himself too, minding that it’s still warm. “The new one who came by the other day? You said he could be working for the guys I borrowed money from.”

Yonghoon cleans up the crumbs around his mouth with his pinky as he frowns a little. “The mafia doesn’t bake you cookies, Youngjo, don’t be stupid.”

“Hyung, cookies are all it takes to convince you that he’s a good guy? You are such a softie.” He then shakes his head and proceeds to walk away, to the familiarity of his room.

“Youngjo, wait.” Yonghoon stops him, his tone suddenly stern and serious, “I didn’t hear you come in last night.”

Youngjo tenses upon hearing the question. “That’s because I didn’t.”

“You always have bruises nowadays, Youngjo.” Yonghoon comes a step closer, “What do you do at night?”

“Ah.” The younger starts, terrified at the thought of being caught by his roommate, “It’s just… You know I’m not really in a good condition these days.” He tries to make a cover-up story clumsily, “I just go to some bars. I fought with some guys, you know. It was nothing, really, nothing more than some drunken conflict.”

Youngjo waits in fear as Yonghoon’s cold eyes size him up for a few seconds. He used to think that there was nothing in the world that he can’t talk about to Yonghoon, his best friend and roommate for many years. But he’s proven wrong once again by fate. 

The burden Youngjo feels from the weight of Yonghoon’s gaze lifts at last when the older looks away with a soft sigh. “I’ll believe you because you’re… well, you. Just for this once, Youngjo, but if you’re doing something stupid just tell me now.”

Youngjo gulps, right there in the kitchen surrounded by the smell of freshly baked cookies and decides to keep up his lie for both of their sakes.

**

The thing with trying to sneak into his apartment whilst bleeding all over the floor as he stumbles is, it’s practically impossible. And another important point he had forgotten to consider is the apartment across theirs isn’t empty anymore so, when he tiredly leans on the door it’s most likely he made some noise that wouldn’t go unnoticed by the homeowner.

He’s just about to search for his keys in his pockets when the neighbor’s door opens hastily, revealing an alarmed looking Geonhak from behind. Now, normally Youngjo would argue that it isn’t logical to open your door to a noise you hear randomly at 2 AM but he takes a glance at Geonhak whose face supports an expression more confused than hostile, and his thoughts dissolve almost immediately.

“Youngjo?” Geonhak questions, the drowsy sleepiness evident in his voice, “Are you—Oh my God! You’re bleeding!”

Youngjo moves a hand over his cheek which is the source of the blood with embarrassment of being caught. “Uh,” His brain stumbles over words, “I fell… during a bar fight.”

His words leave Geonhak utterly scandalized, as the man clutches a hand over his chest and opens his mouth in shock. Youngjo feels his face reddening as he reads the awkward atmosphere. He’s ashamed of his monstrous ways of making money, he’s not proud of hurting people and getting hurt in return. He recognizes that his own self-doubt will only be self-destructing in the end. But he’s met with a dead end in his own trail of thoughts here, he can’t think of anything else to do.

“Do you want me to patch you up?”

Youngjo lifts his head to meet Geonhak’s inquisitive gaze as he was so immersed in his own mind that he forgot the other man’s presence. “Patch me up?” Youngjo repeats in a questioning matter, “How?”

“Oh!” Geonhak says like he forgot to share something big with Youngjo, “I’m a med-student. Didn’t Yonghoon tell you? We sometimes talk over cookies and tea.”

Yonghoon talking to someone over cookies and tea, Youngjo’s brain tries to grasp the situation, that certainly is a surprise. Youngjo’s hesitant to take Geonhak’s offer, since it would only cause more complications to be alone with Geonhak in his apartment. But the med-student is already preparing to get inside the safety of his house, signaling Youngjo to do the same too. With no room left for disagreement, Youngjo complies.

Despite the layout being a carbon-copy of his own, Geonhak’s apartment looks much classier than Yonghoon and his flat. The homeowner gestures Youngjo to sit on the grey couch in the living room as he takes his well-equipped first-aid kit. He gets back a few moments later as Youngjo takes the sight of the other man’s apartment in, wondering how he had ended up here. 

“Okay, let’s start with your face.” Geonhak orders, “I’m pretty sure you have some damage on your ribs but I can’t treat that here. I’ll give you the address of the hospital I’m working in, so you can drop by sometime.”

Youngjo nods dutifully, mostly to avoid a discussion about his health. He’s incredibly confused by the younger man’s sudden care.

Geonhak makes him get up to lay some sheets over the couch, creating a makeshift examination room in the apartment. He then slips right into the small space beside Youngjo, so close that Youngjo could count his eyelashes if he wanted to. The older tries to avert his gaze from Geonhak’s face but the younger’s brown orbs are almost hypnotizing, fixing Youngjo’s firm stare in the place.

“I, uh,” Youngjo mutters unintelligibly, only to be shushed by Geonhak putting a slender finger across his lips.

“Shush,” He scolds as he dabs a gauze patch to his bleeding cheek, “I’m focusing.”

Youngjo doesn’t do much for the next few minutes except occasionally wincing from the pain or studying Geonhak’s face. His burrows are slightly furrowed as he treats Youngjo’s wounds, an act of concentration. 

“And… done.” Geonhak announces at last as he collects his tools, “You said you were in a bar fight, huh? They’ve gotten you pretty bad.”

“You should see the other guy.” Youngjo weakly jokes. 

It makes Geonhak frown immediately. “Do you get into fights a lot?” He inquires, worry written on his face, “It’s no good, you know.”

Youngjo opens his mouth to lie, but after what Geonhak had done for him he decides that the younger deserves a little bit of honesty. So, he manages to blurt out a half-truth. “Yeah, I find myself in fights a lot these days. I know it’s no good, you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Geonhak looks torn for a moment, but he regains his composure as he replies. “Well, try to keep out of it, alright? Now, Youngjo, I have a shift in the early morning so…”

Youngjo is on the threshold in an instant, bidding his goodbye to Geonhak. 

“And Geonhak-ah?”

Geonhak’s head turns to him automatically as if to ask him what he’s going to say.

“Call me hyung.” Youngjo instructs, accompanied by a tight smile. And before Geonhak can process his words, the door is shut and he’s left to stare at the wooden surface before he can remember to create a trail of thoughts.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi! there's a serious lack of youngdo (?) fics so here we are. 
> 
> we can discuss this on [twitter](https://twitter.com/buzukiff) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/buzukiff)


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